1. Greek Tragedy

Atalanta’s pov

“Those are the twins.” My new roommate, Suzie, said. I had been here one week now, and she kept hanging around me.

Suzie…. It’s such a sweet name. Why did a werewolf name their daughter something so nice?

Probably so that nobody suspects anything. I mean, she doesn’t look like a werewolf. She’s pretty, really friendly, and generous. Nothing you’d think a monster looks like.

It’s probably an act. But why would you feel the need to act around your peers?

Why be so nice to me?

Nobody is ever nice to me.

As soon as the two men, because while they might not be eighteen yet, they sure looked like men, came around the corner, I stood there with my mouth open.

They'd warned me that werewolf men were attractive. They are all extremely attractive, probably to hide that ugly part of them inside.

But these two were beyond attractive. Beautiful? Godlike? I don't know, but I couldn't look away from them.

“Twins?” I asked after swallowing the saliva that had gathered in my mouth. This is not a good look, Atalanta. I told myself. I’m supposed to blend in, not come across as a pathetic fan girl.

My brother’s eyes found me across the hallway, scolding me for embarrassing him probably.

“It’s supposed to be ironic.” Suzie said with a wink. “Although they were raised together and were born on the same day.”

They looked nothing alike. Like total opposites, almost. One is blond with a beard and broad shoulders, and he is one of the tallest people here. Which is saying something because everyone here except for me is extremely tall.

Mr. Monreau came up with my backstory and added that my mother was attacked during her pregnancy, causing me to be born prematurely, which made me smaller and weaker. The people back home had thought of everything, I guess.

The other guy, who seemed to be staring straight into my soul, had dark brown, curly hair with a few curls that looked almost gold. He looked Indian or something. What’s the right way to say that? Asian? Mixed?

My parents are as racist as they come, so I won’t use any of the words they would to describe him.

He has a short beard, a mustache, and the darkest and kindest eyes I have ever seen that kept staring at me while he walked towards me and Suzie.

I looked down, feeling strange about the extended eye contact, and when I looked up, it wasn’t the Indian guy looking at me, but the blonde one next to him.

“That’s the alpha heir of the largest pack in the country. The Crescent Moon pack.” Suzie whispered in my ear, but I wasn’t paying any attention to her words, even though that was the whole reason I was sent here. It was important that I learn the identities of the most important people here.

His eyes were blue, staring daggers at me.

Did he know who I was?

No. No. There’s no way.

I felt myself becoming nervous; sweat was breaking out, and I quickly avoided his gaze. I was taught not to look into the eye of an alpha, but he wasn't an alpha yet.

Did I disrespect him by staring? Did I break some rules I wasn’t aware of?

Suzie pulled me to class, talking my ear off, but I didn’t hear a damn word.

“Atalanta, are you copying? Is anybody home?”

I shook my head, “sorry. Do you know why the alpha heir could be angry at me?”

“Which one?” Suzie joked.

This school was primarily for future alphas, betas, lunas, and gammas. But anyone with the right lineage could attend. You’d have to have at least an alpha male as a grandparent to apply. As a result, there were a lot of alpha males attending the Ardale Academy.

“The twins?” I whispered.

“O, Raiden? That’s just his face.” Suzie replied before emptying her bookbag on the table in search of something. I had never seen more crap in one bag than just now.

There were five different lip balms, deodorant, tampons, different scrunched-up papers, pens, her mobile, one piece of underwear, and her keys.

“Finally!” she said, grabbing her phone and piling everything back into her bag while half of it fell on the floor. I quickly helped pick everything back up before finding a piece of paper under my chair with a handwritten letter.

“Is this yours?” I asked since it wasn’t crumbled up but actually folded pretty neatly.

“Nope,” Suzie replied, popping the p.

The teacher entered the room, and I bowed my head before quickly shutting up. The rest of the class didn’t seem to care that the class had started.

“You goody two-shoes.” Suzie giggled.

Little did she know there was a reason for my behavior. Well, actually, two.

Firstly, I needed to stand out as little as possible so no one would know who I really am. Thankfully, they can’t smell that I’m human. Doctor White took care of that with a newly developed serum that me and my brother and I are taking.

But mostly, it’s because it’s the way I’ve been raised. You don’t talk back. No, better yet, you don’t talk at all when there are adults present. You are to be seen, not heard. To be as small as possible, because if you make any noise or create any issue, you know there will be consequences.

In hindsight, my crappy childhood was the perfect training for this mission.

But it’s not the reason I volunteer. I could act like I did it to save mankind, like my brother. Or to help my family or my hunter’s clan. But none of it could be further from the truth. The only reason I am here amongst these freaks is because it’s better than being home.

And the messed-up thing is that never in my life have I been treated better than here.

Albeit it’s only been a week, it's been a big improvement from home so far.

My mission is to gather as much information as possible about their packs and their families. Anything that could help our IT people find them.

It’s even more ironic than calling those two men twins—that we as hunters have an IT team. All Hunter kids are homeschooled, and access to the internet is limited. The only reason I have a mobile phone is because they need to be able to reach me. But before this, I wasn’t allowed to read certain books, watch TV, or do anything most normal teenagers would.

Not that I’d have the time anyway, since my list of chores is usually endless.

What is mom going to do now that I’m not there to clean the house?

The thought of mom made me shudder. God, if I screwed this up, there would be hell to pay. I didn’t know who would be worse.

No, I did. Dad. Dad would be worse. So much worse. And then there was Mr. Sweets, who would literally kill me if I messed this mission up.

“Let’s get started, class. Today we’re learning about the great alphas of the last century. Before you say it sounds boring, these are some of your ancestors. And the best way to learn from them is to actually learn about them. So let’s get started.” Mr. Hessing said.

The teachers were nice here. Really nice.

Maybe all teachers are nice? My mom was the one teaching us, and she was only nice to my brother, Archer. The Golden Child. The perfect one. The one that will lead us all one day.

“Atlanta?” Mr. Hessing asked. “Could you tell us more about, -“

Suzie stopped our teacher, making me gasp in the process. She’s so brave. “It’s Atalanta, Mr. Hessing.”

I shook my head, “it’s fine.”

Mr. Hessing smiled at me, “Atalanta. There is an old story about an Atalanta, a girl left to die by her father, who became a huntress and swore an oath of virginity to the Goddess Artemis.”

“At least one part of the story is true,” a boy in the back yelled out, making everyone laugh.

Both parts are actually equally true. I’m a hunter and a virgin. A very virgin tomato because my head is as red as humanly possible right now.

"Actually, in the end, any man who wanted to marry Atalanta had to compete in a footrace with her, and nobody was able to beat her, until one cheated with the help of another god.” The teacher continued, ignoring the student and my red cheeks.

There is no way I am beating any of these wolves in a footrace. Not only have I received barely any training up until this point, but I will never be faster than a werewolf. The serum I am using only enhances my human abilities slightly.

Hence, my fake backstory.

It makes me sound weak amongst the students here, though. Everyone is here to be the best. To beat everyone in anything. Sparring matches, races, and studies. All these people here want to be the best because one day they need to lead their group of wolves.

I would find it admirable if they weren’t such cruel monsters at the same time. Although the only time I've seen this cruelty thus far is in the gym, I've grown up learning what they’re capable of.

“Are you fast?” Another voice from the back asked.

I turned around to find the eyes of Raiden peering at me.

“No, I am not.” I replied softly. Next to him sat the other boy, whose name I had yet to learn.

“So, still, only one part of the story is true.” Raiden smirked.

I nodded before I could stop myself and quickly turned around. Way to admit to the wholclass thatss you’re a virgin.

At least I didn’t out myself as a hunter. But who would believe me anyway?

Years of eating left-over scraps, cleaning the house, and doing whatever else my parents needed me to do had made me skinny. And not in a skinny model way. No, in a, you look sick way. It didn’t help that I barely spent any time outside, so I was pale too, with big circles under my eyes.

Thankfully, my mission wasn’t to seduce anyone because there was no way anyone would fall for me. Not when I was surrounded by some of the most beautiful women in the world. Including Suzie, who was cursing under her breath at the alpha heir's insult.

My clan would never ask me to seduce anyone because sleeping with a werewolf was considered bestiality. They are abominations, and sleeping with them is one of the worst things anyone could do. It’s a betrayal of our group and of our beliefs.

So my so-called virgin oath would stand until I was sent home and forced to marry some poor hunter and bear him some kids.